San Mateo County has allocated $2 million to renovate and build housing for its largely low-income farmworker population, aiming to address long-standing substandard living conditions that garnered national attention after seven workers were killed at two mushroom farms in Half Moon Bay in 2023.
The county’s board of supervisors unanimously approved the funding Tuesday. It will support qualified farm owners and operators to bring existing units up to safety standards or construct new housing. The effort will roll out in two phases: renovations first, then new construction.
Funding for the effort comes from Measure K, a voter-approved half-cent sales tax designated for local public projects.
“Our agricultural industry is the backbone of our food system, and it’s struggling here in San Mateo County,” said Supervisor Ray Mueller, who represents the coastal district that includes most of the county’s farmland. “By working to ensure agriculture has the financial resources to provide safe housing for farmworkers and ranch hands, we’re strengthening our agricultural economy and building a stronger, more resilient future for every member of our community.”
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The new funding expands the county’s Farm Labor Housing Loan Program, which offers 0% interest loans with 30-year terms.
Units must be in San Mateo County and must be rented exclusively to very low-income farmworkers for the life of the loan or it must be repaid in full. San Mateo County said compliance to this requirement will be monitored annually.
Those eligible for placement in the housing include workers who earn less than 50% of the area median income — under $68,550 for a single person or $97,900 for a family of four in 2024 — and work more than 20 hours per week in local agriculture, with at least half their income from farm work. If a unit is to be leased, then rent plus utilities must not exceed 30% of the tenant’s income and must remain within extremely low-income limits for the duration of the loan.
All housing must meet current health, building and environmental codes, including bringing unpermitted structures into compliance. Eligibility is determined following a pre-application meeting, site visit and review of the completed application.
Between 1,300 and 1,600 farmworkers live in San Mateo County, according to a 2024 report by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. A 2023 UC Merced study found farmworkers in the region earned an average of $24,871 in 2022. In San Mateo County, those earning $109,700 a year are considered low income.
The program also supports an agricultural sector that generates about $100 million in gross value annually and aligns with state-mandated housing goals, according to data from the county. San Mateo County is expected to build at least 2,833 homes in areas under its jurisdiction by 2031.
In April, the first manufactured units of a planned 47-home affordable housing community for farmworkers arrived at Stone Pine Cove in Half Moon Bay. The first families are expected to move in by June.
This latest investment follows a prior $3 million allocation, which by 2024 had funded the construction and rehabilitation of 16 units for farmworkers.
San Mateo County is among several Bay Area jurisdictions under scrutiny by state housing regulators. Local governments that fall out of compliance with their state-approved housing plans risk losing funding or being subject to the “builder’s remedy,” which allows developers to bypass local zoning laws if their projects include enough affordable housing.
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